New Storage Solution Services which Cover the Complete Storage Systems Life Cycle

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1 Review Vol. 57 (2008), No New Solution Services which Cover the Complete s Life Cycle Yoko Sugiura Kenzo Tabata Tetsuya Minematsu Tomohiko Suzuki OVERVIEW: For administering IT storage systems which create new value and for optimally managing a large variety of data which grows by volume from day to day,, Ltd. is providing storage solution s which cover the entire life cycle of a storage system. These storage solution s include system planning, hardware and software selection, system design and implementation, and future system planning. These new storage solution s provide a menu in accordance with each phase of a storage system life cycle. Applying these customized s to each phase enables total and continual support of a storage system which spans the entire storage life cycle. These storage s make it possible to maintain an optimal storage system while at the same time lowering customer workload. INTRODUCTION WITH the advent of the so-called ubiquitous society which is becoming a vital lifeline for people s livelihoods and businesses IT ( technology) systems that can optimally handle a wide variety of that grows by the day and that can create new value are being strongly demanded. Planning systems/ selecting HW, SW s design implementation operation Future system planning Tiered tiered storage s Reduction of TCO by aligning application to right tier of storage with right storage characteristics storage consolidation s Improvement of TCO by reducing the number of footprints, delivering saving in environmental costs Management storage management s Manage and optimize the storage systems. Business Continuity remote copy s Reduced business risks and minimized bandwidth costs data protection s Significant reduction of recovery and restore time from hours to minutes File and Content file and content s Provision of high performance access and securing of critical file and content both structured and unstructured Management Implementation storage management implementation s Achievement of fastest production time by implementing new technologies and solutions accurately HW: hardware SW: software TCO: total cost of ownership Fig. 1 of New Solution Services for Handling the Entire Life Cycle of s in Japan. New storage solution s for supporting the whole life cycle of a customer s storage systems are split into the following five categories: (1) tiered storage for designing storage system and performing data migration between storage and storage devices using virtual storage; (2) business continuity for constructing environments for remote-copying systems and backup systems; (3) file and content for creating secure storage and access; (4) storage management implementation for supporting implementation of storage-management software; and (5) storage management for supporting management and operation of storage.

2 New Solution Services which Cover the Complete s Life Cycle 98 Working under our uvalue concept, we at, Ltd. are positioning IT systems as the foundation of new value creation as platforms. As for storage platforms, which form the core of these IT systems, a concept known as Services Oriented Solutions has been put forward. Total solutions for unifying solution s, hardware, and software are being proposed. In addition, maximization of business value with the reduction of the TCO (total cost of ownership) of storage in IT systems is being supported. Since July 2007, has been providing solution s centered on s disk array subsystems. At present, we are providing new storage solution s that cover the entire life cycle of storage systems; that is, s that cover not only s (storage area networks) but also content archives and NAS (network-attached storage) (see Fig. 1). The rest of this report describes the new storage solution s that are being provided in the Japanese market. CHARACTERISTICS OF NEW STORAGE SOLUTION SERVICES With our new storage solution s, it is easy to reconfigure a customer s system in a manner that is easy to understand from the customer s viewpoint. Moreover, our new storage solution s provide a menu for each phase of the discovery of a customer s storage system, namely, discovery of systems and equipment used in a customer s storage system and analysis of system design, system implementation, system operation, and future systems. By applying s adapted to each customer it is possible to support the entire storage system life cycle from system planning, design, implementation, operation, and future growth (see Fig. 2). REQUIREMENTS FOR NEW STORAGE SOLUTION SERVICES Service Category: Tiered With the s in the Tiered category, a configuration for a storage system appropriate for each customer is provided through the following procedure: investigation and analysis on existing-storage-system configuration, proposal of the suggested configuration obtained from the results of these investiagations, and design and deployment of the proposed configuration (see Fig. 3). (1) tiered-storage assessment In the case of surveys of existing configurations, tools are used to gather the. Requirements are then confirmed and about storage is acquired by listening to customers. After that, a visual Establishment of customer's system Service-proposal phase Planning systems/selecting hardware and software design implementation operation Future system planning Assessment Designing Implementation Operation and maintenance Assessment tiered storage assessment tiered storage design & implementation data migration backup/restore design & implementation storage reporting storage performance assessment Monitoring Investigation and proposals Examination Existing storage system Proposal Configuration design Implementation, installation, and testing Future systems : storage area network New storage solution systems Fig. 2 Solution Services for Supporting the Whole Life Cycle of s. By applying s appropriate for handling each phase, each customer s storage system is supported over its whole life cycle.

3 Review Vol. 57 (2008), No Existing configuration New configuration External storage Volumevirtualized operation Volume setup External-storage connection application Investigation on existing storage configuration Connection installation tiered storage assessment Listening to customers Connected systems Simple performance Information analysis, new-configuration investigation, effectiveness projection New connection configuration Performance forecast Survey Hardware configuration Power/extendibility New hardware configuration Implementation-effect forecast Proposal results sheet, recommended configuration proposal Suggested configuration is projected to design and implementation. tiered storage design & implementation Connected systems Building based on detailed design Design Detailed design of new storage system Volume configuration Building Design Fig. 3 Application Example of the Tiered Category. tiered storage assessment and tiered storage design & implementation are linked, and a configuration for a storage system appropriate for a particular customer is proposed and established. configuration is created from the obtained. Given that, analysis from viewpoints like usability improvement of disk resourses and system extendability is performed. In addition, storage integration is planned using the external-storageconnection function and the volume-virtualization function of. Lastly tiered storage layers are designed. The results of these procedures are then estimated and measured. At the same time as the analysis results are presented to the customer, a recommended configuration for a new storage system is proposed. (2) tiered storage design & implementation As for designing and implementation of new configurations, more detailed design (based on about the proposed connection configration and hardware configuration) as well as implementation according to design are executed. Specific connections between servers, switches, and storage are designed and implemented. This includes zoning and virtualization of the FCSWs (Fibre Channel switches) as well as correspondence between volume and servers. (3) data migration Rapid and secure migration of data from existing configurations to new configurations is carried out. By means of these s in the tiered storage category, storage systems that suit the level of importance of customers data and that effectively utilize existing storage resources are designed and implemented. As a result, it is possible to group data in the optimum places and cut costs involved in storage systems. Service Category: Management As for the category termed storage management, once implementation of the proposed system is completed, operation of customer systems starting actual activities is monitored, and in the case that any trouble occurs, detailed analysis is done and the analysis results are reported (see Fig. 4). (1) storage reporting systems of customers are monitored

4 New Solution Services which Cover the Complete s Life Cycle 100 External storage Data acquisition creation storage reporting Tools are used, and is periodically gathered remotely. Device configuration Performance-analysis Activity-accomplishment report Confirmation by exclusive-use homepage Configuration Detailed performance analysis -results report Request for detailed performance analysis Resource-utilization ratio Activity-result Description of directivity of improvement and analysis results storage performance assessment Interview with customers Detailed performance analysis, performance-tuning-guideline investigation Directivity of performance analysis and improvement at time of performancethreshold overrun are investigated. Throughput Performance-tuning guideline Creation of analysis-results report on analysis results and description -results report of performance-tuning guideline Fig. 4 Application Example of in the Management Category. By connecting the storage reporting and the storage performance assessment, it is possible to support operation and management of a customer s storage system. remotely, and on operational performance is gathered at fixed intervals. In the case that there is no trouble with operational status, the operationalperformance regarding a customer s system is compiled in a report, which is then posted on an exclusive homepage for that customer. The customer can access that homepage and, at any time, ascertain the operational status of their storage system. In the case that a performance criterion is exceeded, the conditions regarding that overrun are analyzed and the directionality of continuous improvement is investigated. The investigation results are compiled in an analysis-results report, which is then presented to the customer with a detailed explanation. (2) storage performance assessment In response to requests from customers, acquisition and analysis of performance in more detail are performed. After required points of the performance analysis are elicited from a particular customer, is acquired directly from that customer s storage system, and the content of that is analyzed. The analysis results are compiled as a report, which is presented to the customer along with performance-tuning guidelines. These s in the storage management category support stable operation of the storage system of each customer. Service Category: Business Continuity As for the category termed business continuity, investigation and analysis concerning related to continuity of existing-storagesystem configurations and operations are carried out. After the analysis is completed, a report is created which gives recommended business continuity configurations, operational procedures, and implementation. (1) remote copy assessment A survey of existing systems is done, and disasterrecovery requirements are elicited by interviewing with each customer. results, recommended system configuration, necessary bandwidth, and basic operation plans are proposed to each customer. (2) remote copy design & implementation configuration and operational procedures design are implemented based on the proposed configuration and operational plan. At the time of implementation, basic-operation verification testing

5 Review Vol. 57 (2008), No according to an operation script is carried out, and proper operation of the implemented disaster-recovery systems is confirmed. (3) backup/restore design & implementation Services for designing and implementation of backup systems for customer data are provided. Service Category: File and Content As for the in the category File and Content, systems that utilize the Content Archive Platform (for realizing long-term storage of digital content) and the Essential NAS Platform for new NAS-gateway products are provided for customers. In regard to a NAS environment, designing and implementation of a remote backup system for filebased environments using functions of the Essential NAS Platform are provided. The files and media s for local backup systems will use the NDMP (Network Data Management Protocol) (a standard protocol enabling backup of appropriate files). A for supporting migration of customer data from NAS equipment of other companies to a NAS environment using the Essential NAS Platform and quickly starting up the NAS environment is provided. Moreover, design and implementation s are provided for the Content Archive Platform. This is suitable for various kinds of data such as log data, document files, e-forms, and . The design and implementation for the Content Archive Platform provides for long-term storage of digital content in a secure and easy manner. CONCLUSIONS New storage s for covering the entire life cycle of storage systems are described in this report. Total support, from system investigation to designing, implementation, and operation, is provided by tailoring s in particular categories in each phase of a storage system. These s are described in the preceding sections. Furthermore, applying acquired during operation and performance-tuning guidelines enables improvement of storage systems as well as investigation on implementation of more suitable future systems. As a result of implementing these new storage solution s using storage experts, customer workloads are reduced and storage systems can be optimally maintained. By continuing to provide total solutions in a timely fashion to handle problems facing our customers,, Ltd. will continue to even more strongly support customers storage systems throughout their entire life cycle. ABOUT THE AUTHORS Yoko Sugiura Joined, Ltd. in 1999, and now works at the Information & Telecommunication s. She is Kenzo Tabata Joined, Ltd. in 1991, and now works at the Information & Telecommunication s. He is Tetsuya Minematsu Joined, Ltd. in 1993, and now works at the Solution Service Development Department, the s Solution, the Area Network s Solution Division, the Information & Telecommunication s. He is currently engaged in the planning of the storage-solution Tomohiko Suzuki Joined, Ltd. in 2003, and now works at the Information & Telecommunication s. He is